THE form did not argue with Sant.
It congratulated her.
PUBLIC REQUEST PROTOCOL SUCCESSFUL.
STANDARDIZATION REQUIRED.
AUTHORIZED CENTER:
The blank field pulsed on every chamber desk, every public-holder phone, every local mirror that had carried Sant's request.
Then the field filled itself.
REID.
Caleb felt the name land through the garage floor.
It was not sound.
It was pressure.
Millions of small places where fingers hovered and fear waited for a shorter road.
The first acceptances came before Rina could speak.
PROVISIONAL CENTER ACCEPTANCE: 12.
Then 31.
Then 76.
Most were not in the chamber.
They were public holders watching on mirrors, people in stairwells, route workers with dirty hands, a hospital dispatcher with too many alarms on one board. They saw the east stair staying open and thought the form was the price.
Mira Sol's voice hit South Ward hard enough to crackle.
"Do not buy the stair with his name."
Jessa Venn repeated it over North Rail.
